So there you are, broken PS3 and bills to pay. Will a pawn shop take a broken PS3 these days?
Every so often I will have someone ask me if they can pawn or sell a broken PS3 at our pawn shop.
I understand the scenario that these people are in, but I will tell you that in most cases, pawn shops can’t take in broken playstation 3s any longer.
At one point in time, they may have been able to.
When the PS3 had first come out and therefore was in high demand, pawn shops may have been more willing to take a risk on them and see if they could get them repaired or sell them for parts.
These days however, the PS3 is a long distant memory for most folks and therefore, pawn shops aren’t in a good position to sell them should they have to.
Now, please don’t feel insulted if you have a broken PS3, I’m not trying to say that “You’re stuff is junk and worthless” or anything. However, let’s just look at this realistically if we may.
You can now buy a fully working PS3 on eBay for pennies on the dollar, unless it is a special, collectible edition. With the systems being so inexpensive anymore, it’s hard to sell a broken one for much.
In fact you would be lucky to get anymore than a few dollars for it in most cases, maybe up to $10-$15 if the hard drive is in perfect working order, but the bottom line is that there just isn’t much money in these systems anymore.
When it comes to tying to pawn a broken PS3 to a pawn shop, you will often find that easier said than done. With that in mind however, they will normally be happy to take the games or other accessories that you probably don’t need any longer.
So What Can You Pawn Or Sell To A Pawn Shop Instead Of A Broken PS3?
Now, with all of this in mind, I don’t want to leave you feeling completely lost or stranded, and want to give you some options here.
If you have a broken PS3, that likely means that you have some other accessories or games that go to the system as well.
Most pawn shops are happy to buy the video games themselves, assuming that they are in good condition, and have the cases, artwork, etc.
If your games are missing the cases, it may not be the end of the world as some pawn shops will still take them that way.
However, if the disc itself is all scratched up and generally wrecked, then you are going to be in a much tougher position to try to get money out of them.
It’s not completely impossible. Some pawn shops have disc refinishing or repair machines that they can sometimes use on the special PS3 discs to get them working again, but it is certainly going to reduce the amount you are offered for them.
Truth be told, with the age of the games at this point, and the low demand for the system itself, there will be equally low demand for the games.
It just doesn’t make much sense for a pawn shop to put a whole lot of money into games that they have to repair, and may not even work after they are repaired to the best of their ability.
Beyond games however, you can also try to pawn things like the controllers and other accessories that go along with the system.
If your controllers are in good condition, and aren’t missing the rubber on the thumbtacks, have the ink rubbed off the buttons, and how no cracks, etc. you can normally get a few dollars for them.
Here again, just remember that with fewer and fewer people playing games on this system at all, the need and therefore demand for controllers for it diminish as well.
A Little PawnNerd Advice
If you want my advice on the topic, I wouldn’t even waste time trying to sell a broken PS3 to a pawn shop because of how little you will get for it if you do find somebody that will take it in.
Rather, I would spend some time coming up with other items that you can pawn or sell that will be much more likely to get you the money you need to cover whatever expense it is that you are looking at.
At the end of the day, keep in mind that a pawn shop turning down your broken PS3 isn’t a reflection of you, and you shouldn’t take it personally.
Rather the pawnbroker is just looking at this as a business decision and if they can only sell a broken PS3 for $5 or $10 tops (much less after eBay fees and everything else), they just really can’t pay you much, if anything, for it. It’s not about you, it’s about the condition that the system is in.
